As we head into August, the heat and humidity are slightly subsiding. However, the Ragweed pollen-better known as Hay Fever- starts pollinating by early next week. I strongly advise my patients that are aware that they are allergic to Ragweed to pre-empt the inevitable symptoms of sneezing, nasal congestion and watery eyes with specific medications before the season hits its peak- usually around Labor Day weekend.
The over-the-counter antihistamines can be helpful, but they are definitely not as effective as prescription nasal sprays or prescription eye drops. The question I get from patients is: will this problem ever go away? Do I always have to be dependent on nasal sprays and medications to control my symptoms? There is a more natural and long-term solution to Hay fever problem, as well as other air-borne allergens- it’s called immunotherapy. If you are not sure what immunotherapy is, you probably recognize when someone with allergies says,” I go for allergy shots”. Allergy shots work but they can be painful and inconvenient- and sometimes dangerous. The good news is that you can now get that same benefit in a natural way by doing allergy drops. It’s fancy name is Sublingual allergy immunotherapy. It’s been done all over the world for two decades- mainly in Southern Europe,but also in Canada and England. I’ve been doing it in my office the past 12 years with very good success. Many of my patients need minimal or no medications while they are taking the natural drops under their tongue- and the better news is that even after stopping patients in most cases retain this immune protection. Why haven’t you heard more about this therapy? Well, in 2006, my book- Dr. Dean Mitchell’s Allergy and Asthma Solution tried to get it to the masses, but since Oprah or Dr. Oz hasn’t invited me on, the work lingers in semi-obscurity. But I have faith, that in the next two years this therapy will be widely available to allergy patients all over the country.
In the meantime, keep an eye on those pollen counts and have your medicine ready- don’t wait until your miserable. The best part of being an allergist/immunologist is that we can get people better- and keep suffering to a minimum, or get rid of it completely.
